Why Steve Jobs’ anti-fashion philosophy is hard to pull off on a budget

The late Apple founder’s wardrobe of 100 Issey Miyake black turtlenecks and jeans is appealingly simple, but 30 identical H&M T-shirts don’t cut the mustard

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Apple founder Steve Jobs in his signature Issey Miyake turtleneck jumper and Levi’s 501 jeans. Photo: EPA

Abid Rahman

Published: 6:00am, 31 Mar 2020Updated: 6:41am, 31 Mar 2020

Rather belatedly, the West is quarantining itself to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus spread, so for the next month or so billions of people will be looking for things to do at home. Binge-watching television is the easiest way to fill the hours, of course. Lockdown will also lead, one assumes, to more canoodling and some predict a baby boom nine months from now.

Before we all get clucky, I should say that recent empirical evidence out of China, which has experienced the worst of the quarantine, shows the opposite scenario is almost as likely. When quarantine in places such as Xian ended, there was a spike in divorces among couples who had been spending too much time together.

In between TV and lovemaking/fighting, there will be lots of time for chores. Once all the fun stuff gets boring, well, you’ll have nothing left. In recent weeks, I have spent a lot of time reorganising my wardrobe, something I presume most people hate doing. I have far too many clothes, not because I am a clothes horse, but because I refuse to throw things away.

I have things that were given to me and will never fit, even if I followed the most optimistic diet plan; things I must have bought while I was having a stroke – they are just mind-bogglingly awful; things that have holes I never bothered to mend; and things I bought online while drunk that don’t fit or that look bad but I was too embarrassed or lazy to return. Then there are things that are testimonies to failed experiments.

Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, styled herself on Jobs, right down to the black turtleneck. Photo: Reuters

The failed experiments are many, but I want to tell you about one in particular, which began with Steve Jobs and my mate Ben. For those who aren’t familiar with the late Apple founder’s sense of fashion, well, it was the opposite of “fashion”. He wore the same dad-core outfit every day: a black Issey Miyake turtleneck jumper, Levi’s 501 blue jeans and New Balance trainers. According to biographer Walter Isaacson, Jobs had Miyake make him 100 of the famed black turtlenecks so he would never have to think about clothes again and could focus on finding clever ways to make people like me part with their money.